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Jan. 27,` 1931, 4 M, J, TRU'MBLE v `1,790,515

kM-wuuvrus von Pomme WELL semanas Filed oct. 12, 1925 4 sheets-sheet 15R -lNvENToR A l man J mmh/e,-

av fromm/s.

Jan. 27, 11931. M, J, TRUMBLE 1,790,515

APPARATUS FOR FORIING WELL SCREENS Fired Oct.. 12. 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2l mvENToR, Milo/1J Trumb/e ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 27, 1931.

M. J. TRUMBLE APPARATUS FOR FORKING' WELL SCREENS Filed Oct. 12, 1925HHIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllli' 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 27, 1931.- M, J,TRUMBLE 1,790,515 i APPARATUS lFOR FORMING WELL SCREENS n Filed Oct. l2,1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVE TO /Wllon al WUm/e;

Patented Jan. 27, 1931 'TbED STATES i A"i""ENTv ori-ICE MILON J.TRUMBLE, OF ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA SSIS-NOR TO MCEVOY ,WIRELESS WELLSTRAINER CORPORATON, OF LOS ANGELES, ALFOlfNA,V A CQRPOBATIQN OFCALIFORNIA APPAATUS FOR FORMING WELL SCRENS Application filed October12, 1925.Y Serial No. 62,1490.

This invention relates to an apparatus for forming well screens, thecasing screen being of the type employed in water, gas or oil wells toprevent sand or other debris enterinof the well with the water or oil.

litherto, the art has had considerable ditliculty in providing a properscreen for Well use. It is necessary that screen to be employed in welluse should `posse'sscoir siderable resistance to collapsing, since itfrequently is subjected to considerable hydraulic pressure upon itsouter side and moreover the walls of the well may at times cave in uponthe screen; It is also necessaryY to obtain the proper results that theopenings of the screen should be of uniform size and produced withoutcuttingr away more material from the casing than is necessary to fornithe opening or without otherwise weakening the casing. It is alsodesirable that the openings of the screen should be of minimum size atthe exterior of the screen and that the openings of the screen shouldexpand or enlarge at least` slightly inwardly in order that the openingswill not become clogged. It is also desirable to form a Well screen withsmooth exterior and interior surfaces, so that the screen when beinglowered in place or otherwise will not catch against the formations orbe otherwise substantially worn, and so that there is n o projection onthe inside to catch or wear a swab or other thing lowered or pulled fromthe well.

Attempts have been made to form *welll screen openings by milling a tubecasing from the inside. Said processes remove so much material from theinner side of the Well screen that the screen casing Ais very weak andeasy to collapse. r[he art has alsoV attempted to provide the properscreen openingsI by forming them separate from the tube oir-casing inthe form of' a. button or plug which is later screwthreaded or otherwiseaffixed to a larger opening in the screen tube. This method not onlyproduces a screen weak where the buttons are connected to the tube,

but involves considerable expense. The art has attempted to form wellscreen openings by initially punching or milling the screen from theoutside and then punching the wall adjacent the openings so produced tocrimp the wall over and produce the minimum size opening at the outsideand regulate the size of the outer opening. rfhis leaves the screen weakat the perforations and destroys the smooth exterior ofthe casing.

it is an object of the present invention to provi-de an apparatus forformingwell screen by which screen is produced in one integral piece andprovided with openings of uniform size at a relatively low cost Withoutany substantial roughening of the exterior or interior of the casing andat the same time so treating the material around the screen openings asto strengthen the screen at the openings and thus provide both animproved form of well screen in regard to smooth exterior and interiorsurfaces and character and uniformity of screen openings, and to providea well screen of greater strength against collapsing' than those now Yin use.

and also with an accompanying action upon the casing or walls of thecasing surrounding the opening highly beneficial to tie' linishedscreen.

In carrying out the punching operation, the punch is cold pressed in thescreen from the inner side, the punch being provided with tapering wallswhich force part of the material which previously occupied the openinginto the screen wall, strengthening the` same by cold pressingopeiation.The treatment of casing in this manner `required the utilization ofgreat forces in order that the cold metal will properly assume thedesired forni. Moreover, these forces must be properly and accuratelyregulated VVso that simultaneously with the requisite punching io-rceapplied to the punching, a die is placed against the outer screen wallin alignment therewith. The force applied to the'punch eak inust hecaused to be applied within the casing or tube which niay be ofconsiderable length. l

rlhe invention nnproves the provision of an apparatus for the regulationand transmission of these' forces and for their proper direction againstthe Work.

T he invention also provides an apparatus adaptable to forming otherapparatus for Well use such as well casing in which a. tube or casing isdesired to be acted upon from its inner side for either the forining ofopenings or reinoving or distorting material from the walls of thecasing into regulated positions.

Various other objects and advantages of the prefrnfred invention willappear froni the description of an apparatus en'ibodtving the inventionand freni a description of the products which may be forined b v suchinethod and apparatus. For this purpose reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, in which a preferred forni of well screen isillustrated and a preferred apparatus b v the use of which a preferredn'iethod may be carried out.

Referring to the dranf'ings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus partially in section andhorizontally broken to shorten the vien',

Fig. Q an end elevation,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevation partially in section of the tool orpunch head.

Fig. 4- is a section on the line 1 -l; of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a further enlargement of the tool or punch head, the viewbeing in vertical section and illustrating the action of the tool upon acasing against which a die is placed.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 -6 of Fig. 5,

Fig. 7 is a View siinilar to. Fig. (3 with the tool and die illustratedin the retracted position.

Fig. S is av cross section of a Well screen formed b v the apparatus.

Fig. 9 is a perspective of the tool head holding one end of the casingenclosing the tool actuating shaft,

Fig. l0 is a perspective of a guide block forming part of the tool head,

Fig. 11 is an enlarged transverse section of the tool and die with asection of Iasing therebetween.

Fig. 12 is aside elevation of a inodilicd forni-of punching apparatus,the view being the tool head ofthe apparatus oi Fig. 141 is a section onthe line Fig. 16 is a section on the line 16-16 of Fig. 13.

Fig. 17 is a section on the line 17-17 of Fig. 13.

Fig. 18 is a section of a tool head of inodified form for use inconnection with the apparatus of Fie's. 1 to 11, inclusive, When it isdesired to iorin casing for well use.

Fig. 19 is a side elevation of a section of Well screen.

lleferring to the drawings, the apparatus preferably comprises a punchpress which should be of considerable size and niay be of variousdesired forins. The press is provided with a horizontal shaft 3 carryinga cani or other ineans for reciprocating a vertically guided rain 4:from a connecting rod 5 as the shaft is rotated. @ne end of the shaft 3is indicated as terminating in ineans such as a gear Wheel 6 by whichpoiver may be supplied to the apparatus from any desired means notshown. ri`he lower end of the reciprocating rain d is provided with asocket carrying a die 7. The die 'i' is provided n'ith a horizontalgroove 8 to conforni with the exterior surface of the casing or otherwork to be acted upon and also with a shorttip to cooperate with arelativelj,y longer tip or end of a punch or ther tool 1() when theirmembers are at the end of the punching stroke of the apparatus.

The base 11 of the press supports a horizontalljyv grooved casing rest1Q shaped to conlorin vi'th the exterior surface of casing or other workto be acted upon by the apparatus.

Positioned at one side of the punch press 2 is placed a foot stock orpedestal 13 at a distance son'ievvhat over half 4the length of thecasing or pipe to be operated upon bj.' the apparatus, the foot stock orpedestal car- 'ying a bearing 1i for supporting the continuation of thehorizontal shaft il. The shaft 3 extends through the bearing 1l and isprovided at its end with a cani 15. rl`he cani engages a roller 1Gcarried b v one arin 17 of a lever 18. The lever has another arni 18supiriorting a weight 18h.

The lever 1S is rigidl",Y mounted upon a horizontal punch actuatingshaft l!) which extends to a point between the casing rest 1:2 and die7. Shafts 23 and 15), together ivitl. lever 1S are inade of heavy solidstock so that any niovenicnt of sha ft 23 is positivelyY imparted toshaft 1f). Y

The shaft 1i) is through the greater portion of its length enclosed by ahori/,ontal casing Q0, one end of which is screwed into the foot stockor pedestal lf3 as indicated at Q1 and there provides a hearing for theshaft- 19. The other end of the casing i2() extends to near the end ofthe shaft 19 and there provides a. second bearing for the shaft. i

As most clearly illustrated in Figures t5 and 7 of the drawings, the endofthe shaft 19 under the die 7 is longitudinally 'bored from its end toaccommodate three :small rollers 23 and accommodate a large rolle-r 2e'mounted by the three small rollers 23. Y The roll-er 24 has about halfits diameter extending beyond the normal exterior surface of the shaft19.

10 indicates a tool Vmember having a depending body` part Q6 abuttingthe end vof the shaft 19 and provided with a curved groovet receiving apin 28 near the lower end of the shaft 19. The tool member 10 is alsoprovided with a body portion 27 extending over the end of the shaft 19having a flat end face '29 and fiat vertical sides 30. The tool member10 is provided with a tool head 31. In the form of the inventionill-ustrated in Figs. 1 to 11, inclusive, this head 31 is indicated asin the form of a punch preferably of the kind adapted to form a slitlongitudinally in a well casing, the tip 33 of the punch being indicatedas tapered` The end of the casino' 20 enclosing the shaft 19 is closed.as indicated at 311, and provided with an upper opening 35 fitting theupper body part 27 of the tool member 10 and thus guiding said member sothat it is confined to a vertical reciprocating movement. Below theopening the casing 2O is also cut away as indicated at- 36 (best shownin Fig. 9) and the bearing 22 is enlarged as indicated at 37, in orderto extend slightly below the casing 2O and engage the lower inner wallof the casing A to be operated on. The enlargement 37 is cut awayV atits upper end 38 to lit the casing 20 (see Figs. 6 and 7). The toolmember 10 has its part 27 normally engaging the large roller Q4 carriedby the tool operating shaft 19. At one side of the end of the shaft 19adjacent-the roller 24., the shaft is flattened as indicated at 39 tosupport the tool member 10 when the shaft is rotated or oscillated tolower the tool head (see Fig. 7). lt is thus seen that by oscillation ofshaft 19 from the retracted position of Fig. 7 where the tool member isVresting against the flat face 39, to the position of Fig. 6, where thetool head is forced into the uppermost position by ridin'g'upon theroller 24;, the tool head can be reciprocated to act upon the inner sideof the casing` A. forming scrcen openings therein or performing otherdesired operations. The roller Q-'l acts as a cam on the tool member 19and permits the direction of large forces against/the inner Wall ofcasing 1L '.lhc end 34- of the casiiig 29 receives a connectioncon'imunieating with "a duct .41 therein, which duct is adapted toregister with a similar duct 4&2 in the body vpart of' the tool member,in one position, so that lubricant mayv be lsupplied from connection 40to the rollers 2B and carried by the shaft 19.

The operation of the apparatus and the method operating upon the casingmay now be' described:

The casing A which is to be operated upon,

v in this Aexample to be perforated to form well screen, is firstslipped over the casing 20 carrying the tool head and permitted to restagainst the casinor rest 12, the weight of the end of the tool headbeing supported liliewise against said rest through the casing A. Poweris then supplied to rotate the shaft 3 by means connected with. the gearwheel 6. The rotation of the shaft A3 causes the die 7 to be alternatelypresented or presse-d against the exterior surface of casing A VandVretracted therefrom. At each time the die 7 is presented to theexterior surface of casing A.` the tool member is actuated to operateupon the screen and during each retraction of the die 7, the casing A isshifted to a new position, either by mechanical means not shown orthrough manual operation. Partof the. power applied to the shaft 3 istransmitted longitudinally through the casing A to be perforated, inorder to force the head of the tool member against the casing A oppositethe die 7, where such tool member 10 may move material from its normalposition in the easing wall against the die 7 producing a resultingeffect upon the casing A dependent upon the shape of the die 7 and headof the tool member 10. The transmission of this force is through therotation of shaft and cam 15 depressing arm 17 of lever` 1S when die 7is lowered against the wall of the casing A. Such lowering of arm 17oscillates shaft 19 to ride tool member 10 upon roller 2d, pressing thehead of the tool member against the casing, the reaction of the casing Ato such advance of the tool member being received upon the rest 12.

As the tool member 1() reaches its uppermost position and the die 7 isfirmly pressed against the exterior surface of casing A, cam 15 isrotated-to a position where it permits lever 17 to rise again under theinfluence of weight 18h. This retracts the tool member from the casingand permits the casing A to be shifted to a second position.

When it is desired to form well screen openings and the tool member anddie are of the described form, this operation produces elongated slotsin the pipe closed by a slight web 32 which is later milled out and witha smooth exterior surface. The matcrial of the casing A in 'front of thetapered tip 33 of the tool head or punch is forced outward,consolidating the structure of the casing around the opening andmaterially strengthening the same. Preferably the die 7 is actuatedthrough a relatively longer stroke than the punch so thatthe punch willbe forced to its most advanced or upward .position in advance of thecorresponding or down stroke of the die member. The result- Cil ingeffect is that the casing being operated upon, not beingpositivelyconfined against movement when the punch is pressed thereagainst, bulgesslightly outward as the punch assumes its most upward position with thepunch cutting substantially into the wall of the casing; the die thendescends against the casing, pressing,l or ironing out the bulge andforcing' the punch to cut into the casing and press the material infront of the punch laterally into the walls of the casing. In thismanner, the greater force for the actual punching operation does nothave to be applied to actuate the punch, but in place thereof this forcecan be applied to die work without the casing'.

1n this manner, the casing` is perforated without substantiallyroughening` or weakening" of the adjacent walls of the casing.,T andopenings of uniform size are produced, accompanied by a consolidation ofthe material around the opening which materially strengthens theresulting well screen.

The apparatus just described is adapted not only for the production ofan improved well screen, but for the production of various differentproducts. For example, as illustrated in Fig. 1S, by modifying` the headof the tool member so that it is provided with a rounded point andreplacingA the die 7 with a die 7a having a concave depression 8a, theapparatus is capable of use in heading` or embossing lapped casing' forwell use.

In the formation of such casing, itis necessary to join two lappedsections of casing' rigidly together by some suitable means, thesecasinirs being indicated at B and C in Fig. 1S. These casings are placedas indicated over the end of the tool head and the apparatus actuated sothat the die 7 is presented against the exterior of the outer casing 7simultaneously with the forcing of the tool member 10 against the innerwall of the asing B so that the rounded hear. 3S of the tool memberforces the material of casinos l and C outwardly from their originalposition, the final form assumed by such material being` regulated byproper confining action of the die 7"l that the casing's are upset onein the other and rigidi interloclcd. rThe invention may be enlbfulied invar-- ions forms. of which Figs. i" to 17 indicate a secondcnlluuliment, similar parts in these ligure-s being indicated bysiniiiar l'c'fcrcnce characters. ln place of employingv a cani 15, theembodiment of Figs. 'l2-i7 is provided with a large gear wheel u on heshaft El. Said gear wheel is in engagement .rit a i wheel 1S on theshaft 19. The shaft 19 c ries a punch head of modified constructionadapted to reciprocate a tool head r9 in a vertical direction by acontinual rotation of the shaft 19. For this purpose, the shaft 19 isprovided adjacent the press 2 with two similar spaced-apart eccentricsurfaces l5 and 16, and with an eccentric surface 427 between the srfaces i5 and 46, the surface 47 having its furthermost radial upoint ina direction opposite to the furthermost radial points of the surface and46. The casing- Q0 is provided with an opening 4&3 in its upper side toreceive the tool member 41) fitting` the walls of the opening and it isguided thereby in a vertical direction, the tool member terminating in atool head of desired form, such a punch. This opening and tool memberare arr; ded in position se that the tool member 4S) rides upon thecentral eccentric surface 47 and the lower seat of the casing 2O isprovided with two similar openings 51 and 52 respectively, below thesurfaces and L16 respectively, for receiving;` and guidably supporting`bearing' shoes 53 and resigiectively, having their lower surface shapedto conform with the interior sui'- face of the casingiv to be operatedupon.

The poration of this form of the apparatus as follows:

The casing A to be operated upon first slipped over the casing 2Ocarrying` the tool head and pern'iitted to rest against the casing rest12, as with the previous embodiment of the invention. lBower is thenapplied to rotate shaft 3 by means connected with wheel 6. The rotationof the shaft 3 causes the die 7 to be alternately presented or pressedagainst the exterior surface of casing A and retracted therefrom. Ateach time the die 7 is presented to the exterior surface of casing; Athe tool memlzer is actuated to press the punch or tool head against theupper inner wall of casing` A, forcing' materir'd therefrom intoposition determined partly by the shape of the punch and the confiningaction of the die 7.

The requisite force for this operation is imparted from the unit sourceof power through shaft S and gears 15EL and 18l where, by rotation ofshaft 19, the eccentric surfaces L1:5, /l-G and /i7 reciprocate the toolhead i9 in synchronism with the presentation and retraction of die 7against the exterior casing; A.

lVhile the same form of punch and die may be used in this embodiment ofthe invention as was described in connection with Fics. 1-11 inclusive,have shown a mod ified form. in the embodiment illi'islu'atcd iu Figs.'l2-17 inclusive, the tapered punch is actuated through a strokesufficient to pierce entirely through the casing A and the die isprovided with an opening to receive the tip of the punch. T he result ofthe method and operation is to form narrow slits in the casing A withrough projecting edges. These edges are then removed as by filing,- toform a finished screen With a smooth exterior surface.

By the apparatus herein described, well screen of improved form may beprovided.

It is pointed out that use of the jointly actuating punch and diemembers produce openings, the walls of which have been cold pressed andthus hardened. rThe cold pressed walls of the casing adjacent theopenings prevent the formation of the screening openings from weakeningthe casing which is as strong or stronger after the punching operationas before such operation.

`While the embodiments of the invention herein illustrated are welladapted for accomplishing the objects of the invention, it is understoodthat various modifications may be made in the details of constructionand arrangement of parts without departing substantially from the spiritof the invention, and the invention is'not therefore limited to thespecific form described for the purposes of illustration, but includesall such modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In an apparatus of the class described` a punch press having a base,a die mounted on the press in a position to be alternately presented andretracted from a casing supported on the base of the press, afoot-stock, a horizontally disposed casing having one end supported bythe foot-stock and the other end extending between the base and the dieof said press, said casing supporting a tool in position to cooperatewith said die, an actuatingshaft for the tool extending through saidcasing, and connecting means between said die and shaft forsimultaneously actuating the die and tool.

2. In an apparatus for perforating well casing, a punch press, a dievertically guided by the press, an operating shaft provided with meansfor reciprocating the die upon its rotation, a foot-stock, ahorizontally disposed casing having one end supported by the footstockand the other end extending to the press, a punch guidably mounted onthe casing in position to cooperate with said die, an actuating shaftfor the punch extending through said horizontal casing and supported atone end by said foot-stock, the die actuating shaft extending to saidfoot-stock and provided with connecting means with said punch actuating`shaft, whereby rotation of said die actuating shaft actuates the punchand die in unison.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a punch press, a die mountedby the press and adapted to be alternately presented and retracted froma casing supported on the base of said press, means adapted to extendinto said casing and supporting a punch in position to co-operate withsaid die, means for reciprocating the punch within said casing, andconnecting means between said die and punch for operating the sametogether, said punch being adapted to occupy its punching position inadvance of the engagement of the

